Building a Team of 30+ Exceptional Writers With Kevin Meng @ Freelanceaholics

We’re all out here spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on content

But how many of us are giving our editors and writers a framework for maximizing the value of that content??

1. Clickbaity metadata to get the click, even if you’re in position #4
2. Authoritative intros that compel the reader to invest their time into reading the entire page of content
3. High converting CTAs to capture emails and send traffic down our funnel

Small changes on hundreds or thousands of pages drive a HUGE impact and the more content you produce, the more leverage you have on these optimizations…

BUT HOW MANY OF US ARE ACTUALLY DOING IT????

Not a lot.

That’s why I’m super excited for this week’s AMA guest, Kevin Meng.

Kevin Meng has…..

• Written thousands of pages of high converting roundups, product reviews, A vs B reviews, landing pages, and informational blog posts
• Hired and trained 100+ writers
• Been featured in Authority Hacker, Empire Flippers, and IMG Academy

And in this AMA, Kevin is going to help you maximize the value of your content investment into 2022.

Q: So you hired over 100 writers. Amazing!!!! How many did you have to review and test to get to the magic number?

A: Not happy to think about the countless writer portfolios I’ve had to review to get to where I am. First off, I’d like to say that I’ve probably hired ~30 writers and the rest have been trainees that didn’t make it. So I’d say I’ve trained well over a 100 and only 10-20% make it at most. Normally, I do a very quick glance to look for my 3-4 most vital skills and if they don’t exhibit any, they’re gone. That reduces the pool drastically. So I’d say hundreds and hundreds and hundreds have got the cursory glance, and considerably less have gotten the legit training.

So that number of ~30 is the # of people that have actually made it to the end and got hired. The rest are just trainees that don’t get my stamp of approval. I’m very strict.

Q: What was the training process for them?

A: It’s very long and detailed but the basic overview is like this: I give them a quick test article with basic directions. I see if they’re capable of doing the things I deem most important for writing overall or for that client. Those that can move along into a training process where I outline articles for them focusing in on the key skills. That way, we get an article we can actually use + I get to see if the writer can actually write in the way I desire. I don’t pass them along to the next step until they demonstrate that skill to an acceptable degree. For example, a friendly and personable tone. I won’t pass them to the next step until they give me an article that actually sounds natural rather than “journalistic”

I do that for 3-4 articles, each on training different skills. It all depends on that writer and what they’re already good at, and what my client needs. At the end, they almost always are a much much better writer.

Q: Whats the average retention length for a writer?

A: a lot lower than we all wish it was. Seriously though, I’d say it’s very low, but I think that’s because SEOs treat writers like the bottom of the totem pole. When you combine that with the quirky nature of most of us writers, it’s a “I’m done with this SH**” cocktail that’s ready to explode. however, I’ve found that when writers go through my training process, get a pay raise, and see a legit path to making good money, they stick around. Espcially when you treat them well and invest in them.

Q: Did you hire newbie writers or pros and just taught them your messaging?

A: Most writers in the SEO space are new – intermediate writers. Sadly, there just aren’t many good writers out there period. I wish it weren’t true, but it is. Normally, my goal with most clients is to find writers making 4-5 cents per word, train them to write like 10-12 cent a word writers, and give them a path to making 7-8-9-10 cents per word within a year. Does that make sense? So we look for new-intermediate writers and train them to punch above their weight.

Q: Reflecting back on the 100+ writers you hired, what are the things pre-hire that writers who are GOOD do that writers who are NOT good, don’t do?

A: Excellent question man this is the #1 thing I hope the audience learns here today. The #1 thing that good writers do that bad writers don’t do is HELP THE READER. Great writers understand that articles are for THE READER. Not FOR THEM or not ABOUT THE TOPIC. If that makes any sense. So many writers want to write “an amazing article” full of big words, and tons of descriptors, with beautiful symmetry, and in-depth factoids. None of that matters. Not at all. What works is keeping the readers attention and spurring them to action – whether it’s a purchase, clicking another link, singing up for something, or just spending a lot of time on page to boost your SEO or brand – Good writers tell a reader something – and THEN they tell the reader WHAT IT MEANS for them AND HOW IT AFFECTS THEM and HOW THEIR LIVES WILL IMPROVE or BE DIFFERENT with this information. Most writers just write facts. In fact, 99% of writers do this, which is why it’s so hard to find good ones.

Q: What are the biggest levers on cost? Location? Experience?

A: I’d say those are the two biggest but prices are all over the place to be honest. And honestly, I don’t see a big difference between writers who want 10-12 cents a word and writer who want 5-6 cents a word. Most writers think they’re a lot better than they really are and don’t have self awareness + can’t take honest criticism – ask me how I know these things 🙂. I think there’s a big inflection point at 2-3 cents. Anything at it or below is usually going to be trash unless it’s from a really talented non-native in a developing country. As an SEO, I’d say it’s possible to get great content at 7-8 cents a word. IDK if this is what you’re looking for. So yeah, the biggest levers on cost are almost too many count: location, experience, how confident the writer is feeling, how much time it’ll take to write the article, where you found them, how patient you are, etc. I’d say experience would be #1.

Q: Is hiring copywriters the same as hiring content writers?

A: No, it’s not. I try to work everything I learned in copywriting into content writing, which is something I’ve taken a lot of pride in doing over the past few years, but they are still two different things. Copywriting is SELLING a hot lead a product that they’ve been funneled to by an add or a sales funnel – for the most part – and that requires a ton of skill and the ability to write to super concise, powerful emotive copy and tell a great story. While great content does exhibit a lot of the same factos of great sales copy – emotion, power, benefits – it’s to a lesser degree. With content, you’re almost having a natural conversation with the reader, while trying to help them out. With copy, you’re trying to sell them something. So, when hiring copywriters, you need someone who writes with emotion and power and knows how to write a sales page. With content, you need less emotion and less power and more conversational tone, information, entertainment.

Q: What needs to be communicated in the intro to get cold traffic to read until the end?

A: trust and value. Why should I read your article and what’s in it for me. That is all. If you want to go further you can add in humor I always do that. So I might explain my process for creating a review and what they’ll get out of it then add “I just spent 40 hours on this, so you better read it. My girlfriend hasn’t spoken to me and I missed our anniversary dinner all for this stupid espresso machine review. Throw me a bone”

Q: What kind of frameworks do you have for helping turn their boring meta descriptions into metas that drive clicks, even in position #4?

A: anything SERP related is always mystery method for me. Create intruige. In a meta description you can even try asking interesting questions like “Looking for the best amazon keyword research tool? After 3 years of using JungleScout, I can’t believe I’ve come to this conclusion”. Ya know something like that. I don’t focus too much on meta descriptions though.

Q: Do you have any type of “If A –> Write B” kinda guidelines on turning boring sentences into sentences that guide the user through the content?

A: something like that. If they make a statement, they must provide proof. If fact -> back it up. The rest is just going by feel or by a bunch of different concise writing rules that I’ve created. One neat hack you can use is to create a POWERFUL LANGAUAGE swipe file and give it to your writers. If you’re reading a section and you don’t see any power, tell them to add it in. Boring content sucks.

Q: Whats the best conversion rate you’ve driven, and what do you think went into making it happen?

A:  I don’t have any specific conversion rate data on hand right now but these are 4 of the results I’m proud of, all coming from rewrites. The factors that went into all of them were all the same: trust in the intro, writing a good story, writing powerful copy for product 1, editing out bad content on other products.

Q: What’s your process for training writers?

A:  I will provide a basic framework here. First, I give them a quick test to see if they can follow directions and exhibit thebasics of my key skills. If they can’t, they’re gone. If they can, they move on to a 3-4 article test period where I focus in on different skills according to their writing level. The first article might be where they learn about writing in a friendly tone. I don’t pass them until they do. I keep track of mistakes and wins with screenshots. That way when they make a mistake I can put a screenshot in their article and be like “hey, this was good. do this again” or when I’moutlining I can put a “this is bad screenshot” and say “please don’t do this again”. If they pass every article, they get hired.

Q: What would be the rough number of writers you trained who never-ever wrote a piece of content, but turned out ammaaaaaaalzing?

A: I would say somewhere between 0 and -400. I doubt any writer I’ve trained never wrote an article before 🙂. At least I wasn’t aware of it.

Q: What was your first job ever (

1. in real life
2. digital

A: 1. moving furniture on my dad’s 18-wheeler. Traveled all over the USA in the summer breaks from school. and 2. freelance content writer

Q: The first time you got a promotion (or another career “upgrade”)… What happened, what did you do, how’d you get it?

A:  I’d say my first “promotion” was going from English teacher making about $900 month living in Europe to getting a writing position at a US SEO agency that paid several times that. I did a few freelance articles and the guy wanted to hire me full time and offered a nice salary so I quit my teaching job and started to work for them. I popped champagne and jumped on a train and traveled Europe with all the extra money. Left my old life behind.

Q: How many articles did you write before you though “hm, I’m actually good”

A: I think like every writer, I still think I’m not any good. I write things then I think “why am I worst person alive?” 🙂. I honestly did really catch my stride until about 4-5 years into this career. I always knew I was good because companies kept wanting to hire me and people at conferences kept saying I was the best but I never believed it until I started seeing real results. When I saw how my articles started affecting affiliate review clicks, sales, engagement, etc, and when people started hiring me to consult and train, I was like “shit dude I think I know I’m doing now”

Q: “Normally, I do a very quick glance to look for my 3-4 most vital skills and if they don’t exhibit any, they’re gone.” What are these 3-4 vital skills? And how do you discover if the writer has these skills?

A: would need a long long long time to teach these things and show you a lot of examples but they are “can they write in the proper tone”, “can they provide value for the reader”, “do they write coherently”, and “do they get to the point”. I discover by skimming the article and looking for anything that jumps out and hooks my eyes. I make mental notes. If I look at 2-3 samples and don’t see enough, they’re gone.

Q: What countries have the best non-native writers?

A: I would say the best writers I’ve come across from non-native countries are Philippines, Kenya, Macedonia, and Serbia. Usually these have the best mix of quality/price

Q: Can non-native writers write as well as native writers?

A: Yes, absolutely yes. You might never be able to fully iron out their wrinkles, like misusing words, but what matters is the tone and value that your articles provide. So long as they only make a few mistakes here or there, it’s totally fine.

Q: Why does everyone who speaks English think they can write? We started hiring in Canada, and TBH, there isn’t any different in quality from our non-native team.

A: I really wish I knew the answer to this question. Most writers tend to think they’re awesome at writing, when they’re actually really, really, really, really bad. I’m not sure why that is. Like maybe because the results aren’t so quantifiable. Like if you’re an SEO and your rankings never go up, then you can be like “oh I guess I suck at this”. You’ve got proof. In writing, so much is subjective. Now that we have the web and metrics to define engagement and sales, I hope more and more writers realize they aren’t good and try to get help.

Q: What do you do when a writer gives you an article with a lot of fluff? How do you turn it from abstract to concrete for them? What do you define as fluff? 

A: send it back, “KBX – remove/revise fluff”, KB should be loaded with examples and best practices. Fluff depends on the niche I guess. But for me it’s stories about random shit.

Q: What do you give your writers to write a piece of content? Does each piece get an outline / brief? Do they do the research for studies / facts if applicable?

A: new writers get brief/outline. They have yet to learn/process your knowledge base and have no clue what you want/expect. Experienced writers, are like self driving cars. And when I say experienced, I mean with your KBs, requirements, not their actual writing experience.

Q: How do you handle revisions? Do you always send it back if something needs changing or do it for them at times? Do you have a line that if not crossed, its edited by the editor not sent back? If yes, what’s the line?

A: Efficiency is the line. If it takes you a few minutes, it’s not worth sending it through the channels, waiting, then rechecking. Embed efficiencies in your processes.

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